Simple
by Little Cruxis Fool
Summary: Sometimes the most simple answer is the hardest to find. It's been a while since Yuan has seen Kratos, and he's starting to get worried. When the two finally meet again, things aren't exactly the same as before. What will Lloyd do when he finds the truth?
1. Cry For Help

**Little Cruxis Fool: My most newist/oldest idea I've had!**

**Forcystus: What are you talking about?**

**Little Cruxis Fool: I've had the **_**basic**_** idea for this, but I never thought of it in this way!**

**Forcystus: …What?**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Wait… FORCYSTUS! (glomps)**

**Forcystus: GAH! You never do that to Kratos! What the hell!**

**Little Cruxis Fool: That's because I don't like to watch you suffer.**

**Forcystus: Just let go of me! **

**Little Cruxis Fool: Disclaimer me first!**

**Forcystus: This little punk does not own Tales of Symphonia, now let me go!**

**Little Cruxis Fool: No. ^^**

**Forcystus: Agh, you little cheat!**

**Simple**

**Cry For Help**

Lloyd stood next to Noishe who was in the pen in Triet. The sun was setting and Lloyd had just given Raine the fixed key crest and exsphere.

"Stupid mercenary," Lloyd grumbled under his breath.

"Still mad at him?" Lloyd nearly jumped half a foot before he realized who had spoken

"Well, yeah!" Lloyd replied to Genis, turning his head to the elf. "He said that I was 'a lousy excuse for a man'! He even said that I would be better off swinging sticks around if I didn't want to look like a fool!"

Genis laughed. "I didn't hear him say that one."

"I don't get why they had to hire him!" Lloyd fumed, ignoring the half-elf's comment. "He so full of himself! I mean, what'd I ever-" Lloyd was cut off when Noishe barked.

"It's rude to badmouth people behind their backs, you know."

Both Lloyd and Genis whirled around to see the very person they were talking of…

"Y-Yuan!" Lloyd stuttered. "I-I, what I mean is, w-we weren't… Uh…."

Yuan's glare intensified, mana starting to form in front of his hand as held it up.

"Uh-oh, RUN!" Genis screeched as he and Lloyd both dashed into the inn.

Noishe snorted in amusement, waiting for the wrath that was soon to come from the mercenary. But Yuan didn't give chase, he just lowered his hand and sighed causing Noishe to whine in confusion.

"Hey, Noishe," Yuan said, walking over to the pen and scratching the creature behind the ears, though Noishe's questioning gaze never faltered.

Yuan met the creatures gaze for a few seconds before turning his head away.

"I've been thinking about Kratos lately," he murmured. "I haven't seen him since that… incident," he continued, finding it hard to find the right wording. "And Yggdrasil wouldn't allow me to enter his room. I'm still worried about him."

Noishe whined and nodded his head in understanding.

After a few more seconds of silence, Yuan spoke again. "I'm going back to the inn; the sun is far below the horizon and I don't want Raine to get upset," he said, chuckling, "That would be painful." With that, the half-elf turned and stepped into the inn and Noishe was left alone.

The beast lay down, ready for some rest, when he heard a faint cry of pain, causing Noishe to jolt to his paws. Turning, he sniffed the air and barked quietly, as not to disturb the others and dashed out of the city. In all his life, Noishe had never expected him of all people to cry out in pain ever again. That meant something was wrong.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

He ran across the unfamiliar sand towards the town in the distance. He didn't recognize the town, but there where people there. People meant food and protection, and that's all that mattered, because they were after him.

The angels were after him. He didn't know why; he'd never prayed in his life, much less ever been into a church, so he couldn't go to heaven. No, that was it. They were after him because he didn't believe. Tears started to leak from his eyes as realization hit him. If only he'd prayed, or listened to the priests' prayers, or even stepped into a church, then they wouldn't have taken mother away. It was entirely his fault that she was gone.

His thoughts were interrupted when he tripped and fell to the ground, cutting his knees on the fine sand. He let out a cry of pain when his arm hit the ground, skinning his hands as well. Having stopping from running, he realized how exhausted he was from all the running and cuts and bruises. Tears finally breaking from his eyes and falling down his cheeks, leaving clean trails down his dirty cheeks, he turned his head around, expecting to see the angels, but instead saw nothing.

When had they stopped chasing him? Had he run all this way, thinking he was in danger, only for their entertainment? Were they trying to make him look like a fool?

The tears flowing from his eyes increased as he thought. He had come all this way for nothing! He had been safe the whole time! And they were just messing with him! Making him feel insecure and in danger.

He slowly got to his feet, his eyes downcast, locks of dirty auburn hair covering his eyes and leaving him to stare at his bloody knees. Blood from his fore head started to run down his head like it had before and he whipped it away, though it kept coming. He felt like a fool, an idiot, running from something that wasn't even there. Maybe they were never there, and he was just crazy. But then, why had they been able to hurt him? It didn't make any sense.

He heard a bark of a creature and looked up to see a large green and white dog like creature running towards him. He tried to back away, but he was too tired to do so. His legs buckled underneath him and he fell to the sandy ground as the creature reached him. He could hear the whining of the creature and its cold wet nose sniffing him before his whole world blacked out.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

Noishe sniffed the boy just to make sure. Yes, it was definitely him. But he was six… again. Was it possible to be six two times? And why was he here? Why was he so tired?

Noishe whined in confusion before taking the boys color in his mouth and somehow positioning the boy on his back. Making sure he was secure, Noishe started off in the direction of Treit at a fast trot.

About half way back, Noishe was aware of the boy gaining consciousness for a little while, only to tighten his hold on Noish's fur and snuggle his head in his neck fur. Noishe couldn't help but snort in amusement. He had known that most human children would probably act the same, but it was still entertaining to see _him_ do that.

When Noishe reached Treit, it was around midday. The whole group was outside talking, most likely deciding where to look for the fire seal. Noishe whined to get their attention and trotted up to them. Everyone seemed rather shocked to find that there was someone on his back, but Noishe ignored it.

"Noishe," Lloyd spoke up. "Who's that?" the human asked, gesturing to the boy on the creatures back.

Noishe knew it would be waste of time to answer, seeing as none of them would understand him anyway. He turned his eyes towards Yuan, hoping that the Seraphim would soon figure it out.

"He's hurt!" Colette gasped, turning to the Raine. "Professor, can you please heal him?"

Raine hesitated a bit before nodding and moving closer to heal the boy's cuts and bruises. Though the female was healing him, Noishe couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at her. It was just a child, and she was still so uneasy!

When Raine finished healing most of the boy's injuries, she stepped back and stood up. "He has a broken arm and a large gash on his forehead. He will need to rest a few days to recover, though healing his arm will take a few weeks," she explained. She opened her mouth again, about to say something more when Colette interrupted.

"Can we help heal him professor? Please?" she asked innocently. "We need to help him find his family, too!"

"Yeah, we've gotta help him!" Lloyd agreed.

"We need to complete the World Regeneration as soon as possible," Raine reasoned, causing her brother to speak up.

"C'mon, sis! I'm sure we have time to help him find his home, at least," Genis said.

Raine glanced at Yuan, hoping for his help, but the mercenary was still staring at the boy and Raine sighed.

"Fine," she said giving in. "Let's get some rooms in the inn again so he can heal properly."

Lloyd smiled before gently taking the boy from Noishe's back and carrying him into the inn, everyone but Noishe and Yuan following.

Noishe whined, trying to get the Seraphim to understand who the boy was.

"I-it couldn't have been…" Yuan started.

Noishe whined, prompting him to continue.

"Kratos?" Yuan asked hesitantly, looking back to where the others had disappeared into the inn.

Noishe let out a breath. At least he wasn't too stupid to understand something as simple as that.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Hey, look at that! Kratos is six years old! Haha!**

**Lloyd: But, how does that even make sense?**

**Little Cruxis Fool: This is fanfiction, it doesn't need to make sense! And when have **_**you**_** ever needed something to make sense?**

**Lloyd: H-hey!**

**Forcystus: Haha!**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Meheheh, please comment!**

**Forcystus: Wait, what? That's it? Man that was short…**

**Little Cruxis Fool: -smirk- You should be glad, for your sake.**

**Lloyd: …?**


	2. Six and Sinning

**Little Cruxis Fool: Okay, chapter two, because I wanna see what happens!**

**Forcystus: But, you already know what's gonna happen. Right?**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Well, I kinda make it up as I go. I mean, I have the basic layout, but… yeah.**

**Forcystus: …Gotcha…**

**Little Cruxis Fool: I'm surprised you're still here!**

**Forcystus: I-**

**Zelos: Hello there, my hunny!**

**Focystus: …Was waiting for the replacement to show up…**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Why Zelos?**

**Zelos: Hey!**

**Forcystus: Because he'd come without pay.**

**Zelos: I had the option?**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Oh.**

**Zelos: Hey, stop ignoring me!**

**Forcystus: This little brat does not own Tales of Symphonia.**

**Zelos: HEY!**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Don't worry; I do everything for a reason! Trust meh!**

**Simple**

**Six and Sinning**

Lloyd set the auburn haired boy down on an inn bed as Raine got out some bandages. They had gotten two rooms that were connected through a door unreachable from the hallway.

"Lloyd, could you get me some water?" Raine asked. "And Colette, a wash cloth?"

Colette nodded and she and Lloyd set about their tasks as Raine ordered Genis buy some apple gels. Soon Lloyd came in carrying a bucket of water with Colette at his side talking about something. Lloyd set the water down next to Raine and she thanked the boy. Taking the wash cloth from Colette, the professor set about washing the boys face and remaining wounds that she couldn't heal with just her magic.

Genis arrived soon and gave Raine some apple gels, which she took with a thank you. As Raine started to bind the boys left arm, the broken one, she started to give the children orders yet again.

"Genis, take some of the apple gels you bought and cook them into a soup," Raine said, before adding, "And while you're at, make some lunch for us as well." Genis groaned and went off to start cooking.

"Lloyd, how about you and Colette go supplies shopping with Yuan?"

Lloyd groaned, about to protest about having to go with Yuan, but a smile from Colette stopped him.

"It sounds like fun!" she said gleefully. "Let's go, Lloyd!"

Lloyd blushed slightly and nodded. "Yeah," he said, and they headed out of the room.

Raine smiled at the two as they left before turning her attention back to the unconscious boy. Having finished binding the broken arm, she looked at the large gash across the young child's forehead. Taking out an apple gel, she smeared some of the gel on the wound before rapping a bandage around his head. She then gently set the boys head back on the pillow and pulled the covers over him.

Slowly she stood up and walked to the door, casting a glance back at the injured boy before leaving the room.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

Yuan walked next to Lloyd and the chosen as they went from shop to shop, deciding what to buy. The blue haired mercenary didn't give much help though, for he was deep in thought.

That boy… it had to be Kratos! It looked just like how the man had looked when he was that age. But then, how did it happen? Why was he here? What did Mithos do? Maybe it wasn't Kratos, just a lookalike. But Noishe had seemed relieved when he had guessed who the boy was, and that creature knew more than him and Kratos combined. But supposing the boy _was_ Kratos, did he remember anything? And why was he hurt?

Yuan sighed. Too many questions.

"Mr. Yuan?" Yuan turned head to the voice and saw the Chosen, Colette.

"Just Yuan is fine," he said.

"Yuan," she corrected herself."Are you alright? You haven't said anything the whole time we've been out."

"I'm fine, Chosen," Yuan replied.

Colette bowed her head. "It's Colette," she murmured quietly.

Yuan raised his eyebrows, slightly shocked by this response. "My apologies, Colette," he responded, causing her to look at him in shock before giving him a truly genuine smile and running up to Lloyd.

If the chosen wished to be called by her name because she disliked the title of Chosen, then it would make it much easier to convince her to give up the regeneration when he had to. So, he would call her by her name if it would improve those chances, even if by only a little.

Soon, they returned to the inn and headed to the other room they had rented for lunch.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

The boy awoke to the sounds of people happily chatting, but it was muffled. He opened his eyes and saw a room with four beds, one of which he was resting in before turned his head to the source of the sound, a closed door. He couldn't make out any clear words, until he heard a voice say, "I'll go bring him some food."

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman wearing orange that was carrying a tray with a bowl and cup on it.

"So, you're awake," the woman, looking at the auburn haired boy, who slowly sat up, trying to ignore the pain in his arm.

The woman walked over to the boy and put the tray on a side table next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked.

The boy tried to answer but found his throat was too dry to do so. The woman reached over and took the cup from the tray and handed it to him.

"It's water, drink," she ordered.

The boy sent her a slight glare before gulping it down. He was rather annoyed at her for pointing out such an obvious fact to him like he was a little kid. He was almost _seven_ years old! A whole seven!

But what annoyed him even more was the fact that he hadn't realized what it was until he was told. It must have been the angels fault. Yeah, that was it, the angels…

Once he had finished, the woman took the cup and set in on the side table. She turned and told him to stay put before she felt the room.

And the boy sat there, staring at the door, and waited. And waited… and waited… He waited for what seemed like forever before the door reopened, this time many people coming from its depths.

There was one teenage boy wearing red with brown hair. Behind him were a short silver haired, blue wearing boy and a blond girl in white. Then there was the woman again along with a… well, at least he _thought_ it was a man, but he wasn't too sure… Anyways, the man had blue hair and green eyes that seemed slightly familiar, but the boy couldn't puzzle it out before the teen in red started talking.

"Hey, you awake!" he exclaimed. "I'm Lloyd," he introduced himself, causing his peers to follow his lead.

"And I'm Colette!" the blond said cheerfully.

"And my name's Genis," the short boy said before starting to introduce the other two. "This is my sister, Raine." He motioned to the woman from earlier. "And that's Yuan," he said, glancing in the direction of the blue haired man.

"So, what's your name?" Colette asked.

"Kratos," the boy said rather quietly.

Yuan's eyes widened and Lloyd froze, before breaking out in a huge grin.

"Hey, you have the same name as my dad!" Lloyd said gleefully. Yuan's gaze shot to the teenager and Colette tilted her head in confusion.

"But, Dirk's name is…" she started before Lloyd interrupted.

"Not that dad," he said, shaking his head. "My real dad. He and mom took care of me until I was seven, and then…" Lloyd trailed off.

Kratos just stared at the group, very confused. Because it was confusing.

"Yeah," Genis started." You told me about that once. You said he was an angel," he remarked, rather dull.

An angel? If his dad was an angel, then did that make Lloyd an angel himself? Was that why he was here, why he was being so nice; to trick him again?

"He is!" Lloyd countered. "He had blue wings and he would pick me up and we'd fly around 'til mom yelled at us for being dangerous."

Wait! But if he had the same name as Lloyd's dad, did that mean that the angels were after him because he was acting as an imposter? But it wasn't his fault! His mother named him! Maybe that's why they took her away…

"Wow, that's so cool!" Colette clapped her hands. "Lloyd's the son of an angel! And I thought I was the only one!"

"What?" Kratos squeaked. "How many people are angels here?" he nearly screamed, scooting back in the bed, starting to panic.

"Well, as far as we know," Genis started. "Colette's the only angel here."

"R-really?" Kratos asked, confused yet again. But she was so sweet and kind looking. How could she be an angel if angels were evil?

"Yep!" Colette said cheerfully, but something about it seemed fake to Kratos. "Er-I _will_ be!"

"Oh…" Kratos said.

Suddenly the boy's stomach started to rumble, causing him to grow hot with embarrassment. Colette, however, just smiled wider and went over to the side table, picking up the tray with bowl on it and holding it out for Kratos to take.

"It's chicken noodle soup," she explained. "Genis made it."

"Luckily…" Lloyd mumbled as Kratos slowly took the tray and set it down on his lap, suddenly aware of his injured arm yet again.

Raine came up behind the teen and smacked him across the head. "Are you implying that my cooking is more than just unfortunate?"

"Ow! Professor!" Lloyd whined. And to his surprise, it wasn't Genis who he heard laughing in the background, it was Kratos. Of course it was Lloyd's turn to laugh when Kratos got a smack across the head in return.

"Hey, wha'd I do?" he whined, reaching up to clutch his head. But with the sudden pain in his arm, he thought better of it.

"You shouldn't laugh at people's pain!" Raine lectured.

"What about him?" Kratos said, pointing at Yuan with his good arm. Raine turned on him.

"You were laughing, too?" she questioned the currently blank faced mercenary.

"No, ma'am," he answered in a slightly mocking tone. He had in fact been stifling laughter, but he didn't have to admit it.

"Liar," Kratos said from the bed, crossing his arms, or trying to before a pain shot through his arm and he returned to his original position.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

After Kratos had finished his food, Raine forced Kratos to go back to sleep and ordered the other children to stay in the inn. Raine and Yuan went out into town to search for any signs of the boys' family.

After hours of searching, neither had gotten anything useful from their interrogations.

"Perhaps he's not from around here," Raine reasoned.

"Then how could he have gotten this far; Triet is surrounded by vast deserts, and he didn't anything when he came besides the clothes on his back," Yuan countered.

"He may have been part of a caravan and been separated," Raine explained.

"Perhaps," Yuan said, shrugging his shoulders. "The sun is nearly set. I'll go buy some food; you get back to the others."

Raine nodded and headed towards the inn. She was surprised when she opened the door to the children's room to find everyone on the ground in some sort of circle, sleeping peacefully. Sighing, Raine picked Kratos up and set him on his bed, for he was the one that needed the most rest, and started to remove the bandage from his head to examine the wound.

It was healing well and would be better in a few days. Smiling, Raine healed the wound a bit so that it wouldn't cause the boy any pain in his sleep and put new, clean bandages over it. She tucked the boy in and pulled the blankets off two of the other beds in the room and threw them over the male teenagers on the floor, waking up Colette and bringing her to their room. Raine watched as the groggy girl slipped into her bed before she took off her orange coat and climbed her own into bed, falling asleep.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

Kratos awoke to someone shaking him.

"Hey, Kratos, it's time for breakfast," the voice said.

Kratos opened his eyes to see Genis looking down at him.

"It's time for breakfast," he repeated as Kratos tried to get up. Suddenly there was a sharp pain from his left arm. Getting annoyed, he looked at his arm. He'd seen the rather thick bandages over it before, but forgot to ask what had happened.

"What happened to my arm?" he asked as Genis helped him up.

"I was wondering when you would ask," the boy responded, smiling. "You broke your arm somehow. Do you remember?"

Kratos shook his head. He just remembered the angels, and sand, and that his mother was taken away.

"Oh well, come on," Genis said, walking to the door as Kratos hopped off the bed and followed. "We're eating in the lobby."

Kratos nodded and followed Genis down to the lobby of the inn, where they found the rest of the group sitting at a table, each eating a pile of pancakes. Colette waved at him and Kratos tried to wave with his left arm, wincing in the process. Raine noticed this and took something out of her pack and walked up to him, tying it on him and slipping his hurt arm into it.

"This will make it heal faster," she explained as Kratos looked down at the arm sling. "I just got it at the shops this morning. Try not to move your arm to much and you'll be fine."

"'Kay," he responded, walking over to the table. With the help of Raine, he successfully got into the empty chair, only to find himself looking at the contents of the table through an ant's eyes. He was too short.

Lloyd laughed when Kratos pouted and Yuan dug into his pack, pulling out a large book. "You can sit on this," he said.

Kratos took the book with his good arm, only to find it too heavy. It fell onto the table with a thud.

"Uh…" Kratos mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

Yuan rolled his eyes and stood up from his seat, picking Kratos up and placing him on the table before reaching down and picking up the book. Setting the book on the seat, he turned to Kratos and set him on the chair as well before sitting back down.

Hot with embarrassment, Kratos quietly thanked him before turning to the plate of pancakes that Colette just handed him. Picking up the fork, Kratos started to scarf down the food. For a moment, Lloyd and Kratos looked basically identical in the fact that both boys were doing the exact same thing. Genis started to laugh and both boys looked at him in confusion, causing him to laugh more and Colette to giggle.

"You two are so adorable together!" she said happily. "Like brothers."

"Wha?" Kratos shrieked, his mouth full. "I don' wanna be bwovers wiff _him_!"

Suddenly Raine came up hehind him and smacked him.

"Ow! Wha?" Kratos questioned his mouth still full.

Raine would have smacked him again, but thought better of it when she remembered the wound oh his forehead, so she settled for words only. "Don't talk with your mouthful!"

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

After breakfast, the group decided to head outside for a while. Raine sat by the inn reading a book while she watched the children and Noishe laugh and run around. Raine had warned them to be mindful of his injuries, so the boy rode on Noishe in tag like games. Yuan had gone off to see if he could make them some extra gald.

The children were currently playing hide and seek, Genis was it. Soon he had found everyone, except for Kratos.

"Kratos! Where are you?" the half-elf shouted, hoping he might be able to fool the child. No such luck; Kratos was a clever hider. "Okay, I give up! You can come out now Kratos!" he shouted again.

No response.

"Kratos?" Lloyd called. Still nothing.

Raine stood up and started to help the children find Kratos. After searching for a small amount of time, the group found Kratos running up to them with a smile on his face and a bag in his good hand hand.

"Look what I got!" he said gleefully as he approached them. Raine took the bag from him and found it filled to the brim with gald, causing her to gasp in shock.

"Kratos," Raine started slowly. "Where did you get this?"

Kratos hesitated. "Well, I ran into Yuan and he said we needed money, sooo…" the boy trailed off.

Raine suppressed an annoyed sigh. "Yes, but that didn't answer my question. Where did you get this?"

All of a sudden, there was the sound of someone yelling from behind Kratos, and everyone looked to see a shop own running up to them.

"Give me back my money, you little thief!" he shouted at Kratos.

"No!" Kratos replied stubbornly.

"Kratos," Raine said threateningly, before turning to the shop keeper, holding out the bag. "I believe this is yours?"

"Yes," he said, snatching it up and closing it. "That little brat stole it from my shop! You need to keep a better eye on that one, "he warned in a low voice.

Though Raine didn't like his attitude, she nodded to the shop keeper and he turned and walked off. Sighing, she turned to Kratos, who was glaring at the shop keepers retreating form.

"Kratos, you can't steal," Raine explained.

"Why not?" he nearly whined. "He already had a million tons of gald!"

"Yes, but he worked to earn it," she explained, slightly annoyed. "So that makes it his property."

"And what about me?" Kratos said, turning to Raine who was confused to say the least by that statement. "Who says I haven't worked like him? 'Cuz I have! And I got nothing! The only way I ever get anything is by taking other peoples stuff!"

Raine was very surprised to hear this from a child of the age of six, much less a human child. She sighed and looked at the sky. It was nearly dusk.

"Come on," she said, picking Kratos up, ignoring his yelp of surprise. "It's time for bed."

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

As the children ate dinner in the inn, Raine went out to find Yuan. As she was searching she stopped to buy Kratos a pair of pajamas and some new clothes. When she found him he was having a useless squabble with a shop keeper. Raine realized that it was the shop keeper that Kratos had stolen from.

"That is not a real pearl, you moron!" Yuan exclaimed. "I'm never going to pay double the original price for some low quality blade with a polished stone on it!"

"Then get out of here and stop ruining my business!"

"You're going to get caught at some point," he grumbled.

"If they're stupid enough to believe it for this long, then I doubt anyone will figure it out."

Yuan glared at the shop keeper before stalking away towards the inn.

"Damned man," the shop keeper grumbled. "He'll ruin my business…"

Raine didn't hear the rest of his grumbling, for she had started to follow Yuan back to the inn. But to her surprise, Yuan didn't enter the inn. Instead he just stoke next to Noishe who was in the stable and stroked him, paying no mind to Raine, so she just proceeded to the inn and went two the boys' room

When she entered the room, she found all of them talking together, mostly explaining to Kratos the events that had happened so far on their journey. What caught her attention was what the little boy said.

"But why would you _want_ to be angel?" He sounded genuinely shocked. "They're evil!"

This caught everyone's attention and there was a short silence before someone spoke.

"What makes you say that?" Raine questioned, causing everyone to look at her.

"They chased me here!" Kratos wailed. "They took mother away! An' she didn't do anything wrong! So they're evil!"

Raine's eyes widened in shock. Where ever this boy had come from, he must have had a few brushes with death. The others seemed just as shocked. The boy must not have realized that his mother was gone.

"Kratos, your mother didn't do anything wrong," Colette explained. "The angels came to bring her to heaven. And they were after you because they wanted to bring you to her."

Kratos shook his head. "Then why were they hurting me?"

Colette looked even sadder now. "They weren't hurting you, someone else was. They were trying to take you away from the pain."

"But… but I-"

"It's time to go to bed," Raine interrupted. She didn't want this conversation to continue. From the looks of it, Kratos wasn't ready to accept any of what he was being told.

Colette nodded and said goodnight to the boys before going into her and Raine's room.

"Genis," Raine called to her brother who came up to her. "I got Kratos some pajamas and a new pair of clothes for tomorrow. I need you to dress him and be mindful of is injuries. Also," she added in a lower voice, "don't talk of his mother." Genis nodded.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

As Kratos was helped by Genis in changing clothes, he saw Yuan come through the door. Yuan didn't seem too happy. He walked over to the bed nearest to the door and sat down, taking the sword off of his waist and slipping off his shoes. Lloyd pulled off his red jacket and sat on the bed across from him.

How could angels not be evil? They were hurting him, keeping him in a cell! And he remembered a blond angel, ording the other angels about. And there was no one else there, so it _had_ to be the angels…

Suddenly, Genis' voice pulled Kratos' attention back to him.

"Where did you get this?" he asked rather sternly, holding a dagger in his hand… Uh-oh...

"Um… That's not mine," he lied.

"Kratos," Genis sounded exasperated. "You got this when you stole from that shop owner, didn't you?"

"You stole from a shop?" Yuan cut in. "Was the shop owner a fat snobby guy?"

Kratos nodded slowly and was highly shocked when a grin appeared on the man's face. "That guy has been cheating everyone in town. Nice job, kid."

Kratos smiled happily before he heard someone from the other room. "Don't encourage him!" Raine shrieked through the door. She opened it so she could be heard without having to be so loud. "Genis, you are too get rid of that thing right now-"

"Just let him keep it," Yuan cut in. "He's going to need a way to defend himself if he's to travel with us."

Kratos was shocked. He was traveling with them? Since when?

"When did you decide this?" Apparently Raine was thinking the same thing.

"It's illogical to leave a child here with no one to care for him, and there isn't another town within miles."

"But this journey is dangerous! How is that not being illogical?"

"That's why he needs a weapon," Yuan reasoned.

For some reason that Kratos couldn't fathom, he wanted to go with them. Maybe he'd be safe.

Suddenly, Lloyd started to agree, along with Colette who had heard the whole conversation. "C'mon, professor! Let him come!"

"Please, professor? We'll have more fun!"

"Yeah, sis," Genis joined in. "It'll be fine."

Raine hesitated, and then spoke. "Fine, but if this journey proves too dangerous, we are going to put him in the hands of the nearest eligible family, for his safety." With that she closed the door again.

"Uh…" Kratos broke the silence."Can I have my knife back now?"

Kratos didn't understand why, but both Genis and Lloyd started to laugh, and it was starting to embarrass him. Genis set the dagger on ground and helped Kratos put on his pajama tops. Then he stood up and helped Kratos into his bed.

"I'm going to put you're knife right here," he said, setting it on the bedside table. "Don't play with it, okay?"

"Okay," Kratos mumbled. It was _his_ knife; he should be able to do whatever he wanted to with it!

Suddenly a wave of exhaustion swept over him and he lay down in his bed and Genis proceeded to tuck him in. He closed his eyes and was soon wandering the caverns of his mind.

**~OOOOOOO~ ^_^ ~OOOOOOO~**

**Little Cruxis Fool: So. LONG.**

**Zelos: …-sulking-**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Hey, c'mon, we were just kidding around!**

**Zelos: (sarcasm) I feel so loved.**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Heh, FORCYSTUS! COME DO SOMETHING!**

**Forcystus: (annoyed) What?**

**Little Cruxis Fool: …I donno…. Make this funny.**

**Forcystus: Uh…**

**Little Cruxis Fool: Yeah….**

**Zelos: This is boring… Please review!**


End file.
